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The Drifting Classroom #1-4
Aula alla deriva, Vol. 1
Una breve scossa sismica interrompe le lezioni della scuola elementare Yamato. Pochi attimi di paura per gli allievi e i loro maestri, ma, quando la terra smette di tremare, l'edificio si ritrova circondato da un deserto di sabbia che si perde all'orizzonte. Il resto del mondo è stato distrutto? Oppure la scuola è stata proiettata in un'altra dimensione? Gli insegnanti, incapaci di accettare l'assurdo della situazione, muoiono uno dopo l'altro. I bambini, disorientati e privi della protezione degli adulti, dovranno allora cavarsela da soli, e imparare a sopravvivere in quel paesaggio desolato che nasconde segreti sempre più terribili.
732 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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6078 people want to read
About the author
Kazuo Umezu
131 books305 followersKazuo Umezu or Kazuo Umezz was a Japanese manga artist, musician and actor. Starting his career in the 1950s, he is among the most famous artists of horror manga and has been vital for its development, considered the "god of horror manga". In 1960s shōjo manga like Reptilia, he broke the industry's conventions by combining the aesthetics of the commercial manga industry with gruesome visual imagery inspired by Japanese folktales, which created a boom of horror manga and influenced manga artists of following generations. He created successful manga series such as The Drifting Classroom, Makoto-chan and My Name Is Shingo, until he retired from drawing manga in the mid 1990s. He was a public figure in Japan, known for wearing red-and-white-striped shirts and doing his signature "Gwash" hand gesture.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 415 reviews
February 9, 2020
If you believe that the worst cannot possibly happen to these cutely drawn young characters, then guess again. The horror!
April 3, 2022
An entire school suddenly disappears someday for no reason - including the hundreds of students and faculty inside - and winds up in an eerily isolated, rocky landscape. Wha’ happen? So begins the strange mystery of The Drifting Classroom…
I can’t say as much as I want to about this book without mentioning details, and, because so much of the book’s appeal hinges on the (possibly too many) left turns the story takes and its overall mystery, I’ll just say that this first volume is worth a look if you’re into horror manga but not to expect too much as it does get quite silly at times. I can see why Kazuo Umezz’s 1972 series inspired creators like Junji Ito though and, if you enjoy Ito’s work, you’ll probably enjoy this too. It definitely doesn’t feel 50 years old so it’s aged well.
And with that - SPOILERS for the rest of the review!
Umezz sets up the premise really well so you understand exactly what’s happened: introducing us to the main character, then showing the perspective of the outsiders initially before taking us into the school and giving us that perspective - great storytelling choices. The voices of the kids and the actions of everyone once they realise what’s happened is convincing and compelling to see.
And then we get the first of Umezz’s unexpectedly melodramatic plot twists that become increasingly bizarre as the story develops: to calm the kids down, a teacher breaks his glasses, grabs a kid and stabs the kid in the arm! These are high school teachers - have they not had training in how to control upset kids prior to this? I get that they’re stressed by the situation but stabbing students as a first course of action is insane.
It gets stupider. Sekiya, the “lunchroom man” who delivers food to the school kitchen for the kids’ lunches every day, has also been transported and has decided to become a kind of tyrant of the school, torturing the kids and hoarding the food. There’s a handgun in the school for some reason - if this were an American school I wouldn’t be surprised, but in Japan? Hmm.
Then one of the teachers turns out to be a secret serial killer who decides now’s the perfect time to start offing as many people, adults and kids alike, as he can! Just as the kids deal with Sekiya, an older girl tries to take control of the school and then a giant lobster attacks!
I can forgive some of this nonsense because I’m sure the way manga was made 50 years ago is the same as it is today: that is, the creator/s don’t know if their series will be a hit so they rarely plan too far ahead. Once they get the green light that their pilot will become a regular series, it’s all systems go but often they don’t have that many detailed plotlines and only a vague idea of where they’re headed.
Assuming that’s the case here, that’s probably why Umezz was throwing in so many disparate storylines (like that attack on the principal subplot that goes nowhere): because he’s making it up as he goes along. Except that the mystery of where they are, how they’ll survive, how they got there, etc. is so much more compelling than all the absurd tangents of serial killer teachers, power-crazed lunchroom men and bossy girls - I wish Umezz had focused more on the former than the latter. In the same breath, some of the nonsense is also undeniably entertaining, so it’s bonkers but fun too.
The second half of the book though is really dumb - I get that readers are meant to suspend disbelief with fiction but I feel that Umezz asks too much here. Our main character, Sho Takamatsu, is being attacked by his serial killer teacher in an abandoned hotel and calls out to his mother (who didn’t get transported) - who, somehow, through time and space, is able to hear him, go to the hotel, secrete a knife in the very location where he’s being held down and strangled, so he can - in the future, which it turns out is where they are - reach out, get the (now heavily rusted) knife, and stab his would-be murderer! I mean…
They also happen to have a “genius” kid (Umezz very imaginatively goes for the most cartoonish character design of a nerd) who can conveniently explain information to the reader and the characters - mostly notably how to survive the giant lobster attack just before the giant lobster attacks; the kids are able to put together, conduct and complete a school-wide election in seemingly no time at all; which isn’t nearly as crazy as these kids (the oldest are 12!) putting together an elaborate stakes/drawbridge trap for the lobster monster who’s attacking the school for no reason, along with a GIANT CROSSBOW! Because that’s easy to do, guys, particularly in an arid treeless environment. And I’m sure that kinda stuff was on the curriculum back then, right???
It’s weird how the teachers disappear after a certain point too. Some of them die but you’d expect them to be more of a presence rather than not be there at all. It’s also odd how segregated the kids remain so that they all stay in their respective classes/age groups rather than mingle together.
Umezz’s art is excellent - the environment the school ends up in is genuinely creepy with the perpetual darkness and martian landscape. I was really impressed with how realistically he draws flames in black and white and the lobster monster looked cool.
Not all the storylines worked for me - I wasn’t that taken with the hungry kid, the bossy girl, the Christian sacrifice (Umezz’s Lord of the Flies-esque episodes come off as more comedic than terrifying), and he overplayed the Sekiya stuff. But there’s also a lot here that is fascinating, like seeing the kids and teachers reacting to their situation, how they deal with having limited food, water and supplies, and tentatively exploring their alien surroundings. The stream of brutal deaths also keep you guessing as to which characters make it or not and I enjoyed slowly figuring out the mystery along with the characters.
The Drifting Classroom, Volume 1 definitely has its flaws but it’s also got enough here - a strong premise, bold storytelling choices, great art - to make it understandable why it’s considered a classic manga. I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly great read - there’s a lotta goofy crap here and chunks of it were plain boring - though I enjoyed some of it. It’s worth a look if you can find a copy but if you can’t, you’re not missing that much.
I can’t say as much as I want to about this book without mentioning details, and, because so much of the book’s appeal hinges on the (possibly too many) left turns the story takes and its overall mystery, I’ll just say that this first volume is worth a look if you’re into horror manga but not to expect too much as it does get quite silly at times. I can see why Kazuo Umezz’s 1972 series inspired creators like Junji Ito though and, if you enjoy Ito’s work, you’ll probably enjoy this too. It definitely doesn’t feel 50 years old so it’s aged well.
And with that - SPOILERS for the rest of the review!
Umezz sets up the premise really well so you understand exactly what’s happened: introducing us to the main character, then showing the perspective of the outsiders initially before taking us into the school and giving us that perspective - great storytelling choices. The voices of the kids and the actions of everyone once they realise what’s happened is convincing and compelling to see.
And then we get the first of Umezz’s unexpectedly melodramatic plot twists that become increasingly bizarre as the story develops: to calm the kids down, a teacher breaks his glasses, grabs a kid and stabs the kid in the arm! These are high school teachers - have they not had training in how to control upset kids prior to this? I get that they’re stressed by the situation but stabbing students as a first course of action is insane.
It gets stupider. Sekiya, the “lunchroom man” who delivers food to the school kitchen for the kids’ lunches every day, has also been transported and has decided to become a kind of tyrant of the school, torturing the kids and hoarding the food. There’s a handgun in the school for some reason - if this were an American school I wouldn’t be surprised, but in Japan? Hmm.
Then one of the teachers turns out to be a secret serial killer who decides now’s the perfect time to start offing as many people, adults and kids alike, as he can! Just as the kids deal with Sekiya, an older girl tries to take control of the school and then a giant lobster attacks!
I can forgive some of this nonsense because I’m sure the way manga was made 50 years ago is the same as it is today: that is, the creator/s don’t know if their series will be a hit so they rarely plan too far ahead. Once they get the green light that their pilot will become a regular series, it’s all systems go but often they don’t have that many detailed plotlines and only a vague idea of where they’re headed.
Assuming that’s the case here, that’s probably why Umezz was throwing in so many disparate storylines (like that attack on the principal subplot that goes nowhere): because he’s making it up as he goes along. Except that the mystery of where they are, how they’ll survive, how they got there, etc. is so much more compelling than all the absurd tangents of serial killer teachers, power-crazed lunchroom men and bossy girls - I wish Umezz had focused more on the former than the latter. In the same breath, some of the nonsense is also undeniably entertaining, so it’s bonkers but fun too.
The second half of the book though is really dumb - I get that readers are meant to suspend disbelief with fiction but I feel that Umezz asks too much here. Our main character, Sho Takamatsu, is being attacked by his serial killer teacher in an abandoned hotel and calls out to his mother (who didn’t get transported) - who, somehow, through time and space, is able to hear him, go to the hotel, secrete a knife in the very location where he’s being held down and strangled, so he can - in the future, which it turns out is where they are - reach out, get the (now heavily rusted) knife, and stab his would-be murderer! I mean…
They also happen to have a “genius” kid (Umezz very imaginatively goes for the most cartoonish character design of a nerd) who can conveniently explain information to the reader and the characters - mostly notably how to survive the giant lobster attack just before the giant lobster attacks; the kids are able to put together, conduct and complete a school-wide election in seemingly no time at all; which isn’t nearly as crazy as these kids (the oldest are 12!) putting together an elaborate stakes/drawbridge trap for the lobster monster who’s attacking the school for no reason, along with a GIANT CROSSBOW! Because that’s easy to do, guys, particularly in an arid treeless environment. And I’m sure that kinda stuff was on the curriculum back then, right???
It’s weird how the teachers disappear after a certain point too. Some of them die but you’d expect them to be more of a presence rather than not be there at all. It’s also odd how segregated the kids remain so that they all stay in their respective classes/age groups rather than mingle together.
Umezz’s art is excellent - the environment the school ends up in is genuinely creepy with the perpetual darkness and martian landscape. I was really impressed with how realistically he draws flames in black and white and the lobster monster looked cool.
Not all the storylines worked for me - I wasn’t that taken with the hungry kid, the bossy girl, the Christian sacrifice (Umezz’s Lord of the Flies-esque episodes come off as more comedic than terrifying), and he overplayed the Sekiya stuff. But there’s also a lot here that is fascinating, like seeing the kids and teachers reacting to their situation, how they deal with having limited food, water and supplies, and tentatively exploring their alien surroundings. The stream of brutal deaths also keep you guessing as to which characters make it or not and I enjoyed slowly figuring out the mystery along with the characters.
The Drifting Classroom, Volume 1 definitely has its flaws but it’s also got enough here - a strong premise, bold storytelling choices, great art - to make it understandable why it’s considered a classic manga. I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly great read - there’s a lotta goofy crap here and chunks of it were plain boring - though I enjoyed some of it. It’s worth a look if you can find a copy but if you can’t, you’re not missing that much.
Read
July 24, 202024/7/20
To think that this guy who dresses like Where is Waldo could conjure such a disturbing manga is actually wild. Looking forward to reading volume 2!
22/7/20
Really hoping this one is better than the last horror manga I just read
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To think that this guy who dresses like Where is Waldo could conjure such a disturbing manga is actually wild. Looking forward to reading volume 2!
22/7/20
Really hoping this one is better than the last horror manga I just read
You can find me on
Youtube | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Website | The Storygraph
November 9, 2021
After an earthquake, an elementary school is transported to a desert world. Cut off from everything they know, can sixth grader Sho Takamatsu keep things together as even the teachers are falling apart?
A couple years ago, I was on a manga binge when good old Anthony Vacca recommended this to me. It was out of print at the time but now the entire series is collected in three omnibuses. I traded some crap in at V-Stock a few months ago and finally picked this up.
The Drifting Classroom was published in the 1970s and the artwork is of the time period, similar to Speed Racer and other manga from around that time. The cuteness cannot stop the coming horror, though.
As the last couple years have shown us, people have a habit of being shitheads when they need to come together and cooperate and these Japanese sixth graders are no exception. When faced with things like isolation, food shortages, and the unknown beyond the desert, plenty of people show their asses.
Sho Takamatsu, the protagonist, though at this point I don't know if he'll survive the series, is a somewhat angry young man who finds himself balls deep in trouble with other kids looking up to him. It quickly becomes a Lord of the Flies scenario.
Gruesome shit happens. The cutely drawn kids get dispatched in various ways, none of them kind. The teachers don't fare much better. Before reading this, I read that it inspired Junji Ito of Uzumaki fame. After reading this, I have no trouble believing that. While not as grotesque as Ito's work, some harsh things go down.
As far as horror manga I've read so far goes, The Drifting Classroom hits all the buttons for me. I need to score the next two volumes. Four out of five stars.
A couple years ago, I was on a manga binge when good old Anthony Vacca recommended this to me. It was out of print at the time but now the entire series is collected in three omnibuses. I traded some crap in at V-Stock a few months ago and finally picked this up.
The Drifting Classroom was published in the 1970s and the artwork is of the time period, similar to Speed Racer and other manga from around that time. The cuteness cannot stop the coming horror, though.
As the last couple years have shown us, people have a habit of being shitheads when they need to come together and cooperate and these Japanese sixth graders are no exception. When faced with things like isolation, food shortages, and the unknown beyond the desert, plenty of people show their asses.
Sho Takamatsu, the protagonist, though at this point I don't know if he'll survive the series, is a somewhat angry young man who finds himself balls deep in trouble with other kids looking up to him. It quickly becomes a Lord of the Flies scenario.
Gruesome shit happens. The cutely drawn kids get dispatched in various ways, none of them kind. The teachers don't fare much better. Before reading this, I read that it inspired Junji Ito of Uzumaki fame. After reading this, I have no trouble believing that. While not as grotesque as Ito's work, some harsh things go down.
As far as horror manga I've read so far goes, The Drifting Classroom hits all the buttons for me. I need to score the next two volumes. Four out of five stars.
March 18, 2020
This isn't a reprint, but a new edition with a completely new translation. So, if you are a fan of the series... I'm sorry to say, but you're going to need to collect both. The translations are so different, you won't want to miss out on that.
Classic "Lord of the Flies" scenario turned fantasy-horror. It's a good time... or, maybe it's actually a bad time. Anyways, it's a time. Great series as always!
Classic "Lord of the Flies" scenario turned fantasy-horror. It's a good time... or, maybe it's actually a bad time. Anyways, it's a time. Great series as always!
December 21, 2021
This book was bonkers. So an elementary school gets blasted to the desolate far future and immediately a teacher stabs a kid to calm down the other kids (because that would work, right?), the guy who stocks the food hoards it all using a little girl as a hostage, and one of the teachers goes on a murderous rampage on other teachers. This all happens within hours of the incident.
Like were these teachers never vetted? They just woke up this morning and chose violence before all things. I'm curious to see how they would have handled a lesser catastrophe. A black out? Grab the knives, it's dark and clearly we must go stabbing!
By the end of the second day, there are practically only children left. It's absurd. I feel dumb saying that a scifi horror graphic novel isn't realistic enough but one would hope that it would take a bit more time for the teachers to have mental breakdowns.
Anyway, this book is like the Lord of the Flies if it was played at x10 speed. The "genius" character can cram his misogynistic face with walnuts tyvm and I'm glad Sho punched him in the stomach out of nowhere for no reason at the end.
The artist did a good job of showing the peril without turning it into some sort of gory perverse children hurting thing.
I don't think I'll explore the rest of the series but I didn't hate it.
Like were these teachers never vetted? They just woke up this morning and chose violence before all things. I'm curious to see how they would have handled a lesser catastrophe. A black out? Grab the knives, it's dark and clearly we must go stabbing!
By the end of the second day, there are practically only children left. It's absurd. I feel dumb saying that a scifi horror graphic novel isn't realistic enough but one would hope that it would take a bit more time for the teachers to have mental breakdowns.
Anyway, this book is like the Lord of the Flies if it was played at x10 speed. The "genius" character can cram his misogynistic face with walnuts tyvm and I'm glad Sho punched him in the stomach out of nowhere for no reason at the end.
The artist did a good job of showing the peril without turning it into some sort of gory perverse children hurting thing.
I don't think I'll explore the rest of the series but I didn't hate it.
January 3, 2021
This is the spoiler free review of the full series of Drifting Classroom, if you would like to see the spoiler full review please visit here: https://amanjareads.com/2020/12/23/th...
I was really surprised by Drifting Classroom. On the surface it's a pretty standard horror manga. A classroom of kids needs to fight for their survival. But the gift of Drifting Classroom lies in its characters, that's where it really deviates from the norm.
The classroom in question is spontaneously drifted to a strange new land that no one recognizes. The children and teachers have no idea what has happened and must learn how to survive if they have any hope of returning.
Turns out the very young children, think elementary school aged, are much better at this than the adults. The teachers erupt immediately into a violent panic, there are many casualties. A lot of the shock of The Drifting Classroom comes from the author's willingness to kill off young children.
The protagonist is Sho, a 6th grader and natural born leader. He takes the role of helping everyone work together to find solutions. I really enjoyed watching him find his place in this new society. He handles all sorts of conflicts with a grace most adults could never hope for.
But my favorite character is Yu. He's a tiny 3 year old who happened to be riding his tricycle just too close to the school when it drifted. He's the cutest thing! The way he's drawn, the way he speaks, the way he acts. It's all just so danged adorable! Every time he showed up on the page I was overwhelmed with a motherly urge to protect him and fight for his survival.
I can't do justice to how cute Yu is with words alone. But I did find myself nearly crying from joy at one point in the book, soley because of his absolute purehearted nature. We don't deserve Yu, he's too good for this world.
I cared for several of the characters in this book. This is the key to great horror. The consequences have to be high! I actually did care if they lived or died, a surprisingly rare feature for horror of any medium.
In addition to the characters the art is great. Several full page layouts could easily be framed and hung in any room of your house.
It also has a levity that balances well with the horror aspects. Enjoy many many scenes of kids falling flat on their faces.
Seriously, it happens A LOT in this book.
I fully understand now why The Drifting Classroom is considered a classic. It's absolutely ridiculous and has a lot of stretches of reason but you'll have to see how it ends. You'll have to see if the kids get a happy ending, and you won't put it down until you kow.
I was really surprised by Drifting Classroom. On the surface it's a pretty standard horror manga. A classroom of kids needs to fight for their survival. But the gift of Drifting Classroom lies in its characters, that's where it really deviates from the norm.
The classroom in question is spontaneously drifted to a strange new land that no one recognizes. The children and teachers have no idea what has happened and must learn how to survive if they have any hope of returning.
Turns out the very young children, think elementary school aged, are much better at this than the adults. The teachers erupt immediately into a violent panic, there are many casualties. A lot of the shock of The Drifting Classroom comes from the author's willingness to kill off young children.
The protagonist is Sho, a 6th grader and natural born leader. He takes the role of helping everyone work together to find solutions. I really enjoyed watching him find his place in this new society. He handles all sorts of conflicts with a grace most adults could never hope for.
But my favorite character is Yu. He's a tiny 3 year old who happened to be riding his tricycle just too close to the school when it drifted. He's the cutest thing! The way he's drawn, the way he speaks, the way he acts. It's all just so danged adorable! Every time he showed up on the page I was overwhelmed with a motherly urge to protect him and fight for his survival.
I can't do justice to how cute Yu is with words alone. But I did find myself nearly crying from joy at one point in the book, soley because of his absolute purehearted nature. We don't deserve Yu, he's too good for this world.
I cared for several of the characters in this book. This is the key to great horror. The consequences have to be high! I actually did care if they lived or died, a surprisingly rare feature for horror of any medium.
In addition to the characters the art is great. Several full page layouts could easily be framed and hung in any room of your house.
It also has a levity that balances well with the horror aspects. Enjoy many many scenes of kids falling flat on their faces.
Seriously, it happens A LOT in this book.
I fully understand now why The Drifting Classroom is considered a classic. It's absolutely ridiculous and has a lot of stretches of reason but you'll have to see how it ends. You'll have to see if the kids get a happy ending, and you won't put it down until you kow.
February 2, 2020
The idea was interesting but the plot felt very repetitive. 700 pages and I feel like nothing really happened?
Also some of the sexist ideas are definitely very dated. I don't know if this is something I'm really interested in carrying on with.
Also some of the sexist ideas are definitely very dated. I don't know if this is something I'm really interested in carrying on with.
November 29, 2021
The Drifting Classroom by Kazuo Umezu is a definite classic but special manga.
It was serialised in the Weekly Shonen Sunday from 1972 to 1974, and you can see it in the art style of this manga, which I really liked here. The way Umezu draws faces really stuns me. Blown away by his art.
A tremor shakes an elementary school of more than 800 pupils and teachers and the school is being transported to a strange dystopian wasteland.
The story discusses themes like corruption, survival, wickedness and the nature of humans. Some parts are quite dark and gruesome. And don't forget that it mostly deals with first to sixth graders, children that are left alone. (How) can they all survive? What about the dynamic between teachers and pupils? How did they end up there? What about the parents of the children that find out that all of them are now gone.
If I would have had more time yesterday I would have finished it in one sitting, without a doubt.
Funny how I rarely like horror books or films. But always love horror manga.
Pick this up!
It was serialised in the Weekly Shonen Sunday from 1972 to 1974, and you can see it in the art style of this manga, which I really liked here. The way Umezu draws faces really stuns me. Blown away by his art.
A tremor shakes an elementary school of more than 800 pupils and teachers and the school is being transported to a strange dystopian wasteland.
The story discusses themes like corruption, survival, wickedness and the nature of humans. Some parts are quite dark and gruesome. And don't forget that it mostly deals with first to sixth graders, children that are left alone. (How) can they all survive? What about the dynamic between teachers and pupils? How did they end up there? What about the parents of the children that find out that all of them are now gone.
If I would have had more time yesterday I would have finished it in one sitting, without a doubt.
Funny how I rarely like horror books or films. But always love horror manga.
Pick this up!
June 23, 2020
Sho is a 6th grade student somewhere in Japan. After a fight with his mom one morning, he walks to school in a huff. Shortly after class starts, his entire school is transported to a distant future where the world has become an enormous desert. Beyond the school's gates, there's nothing but sand. Everyone in the school is, reasonably, unsettled by this development, but the school's teachers become homicidally insane and have to be put down. The children then hold elections. Think "lord of the flies" re-done as a funny japanese sci-fi action/adventure movie.
I found a lot of humor in the over-the-top intensity: children are punched by adults, decapitated by giant insects and reduced to skeletons by flesh-eating swarms. It truly feels like the book itself is screaming at you all 700 pages -- almost every speech bubble is in jagged spikes. So much fun.
There are also some weird misogynistic themes that tamp down on the fun. There's literally a panel where a child proclaims that women are meant for breeding and shouldn't be involved in governance -- it may be satire, but I could do without conservative politics in my ultra-violent horror-comedy.
Also, although the art's very effective, there are a lot of visual shortcuts and characters drawn in awkward poses. It's not bad, it's just no junji ito virtuosity -- there aren't any panels I'd put up on my wall.
I found a lot of humor in the over-the-top intensity: children are punched by adults, decapitated by giant insects and reduced to skeletons by flesh-eating swarms. It truly feels like the book itself is screaming at you all 700 pages -- almost every speech bubble is in jagged spikes. So much fun.
There are also some weird misogynistic themes that tamp down on the fun. There's literally a panel where a child proclaims that women are meant for breeding and shouldn't be involved in governance -- it may be satire, but I could do without conservative politics in my ultra-violent horror-comedy.
Also, although the art's very effective, there are a lot of visual shortcuts and characters drawn in awkward poses. It's not bad, it's just no junji ito virtuosity -- there aren't any panels I'd put up on my wall.
July 4, 2021
It’s kind of just what I feared whenever I read a horror novel, which is that it’s violent and upsetting rather than scary (need more actual scary books!!!), but also... this rules. So good, so gross, so fun, cannot believe it was written in the early 70s. I’m addicted to movies/books where they are brave enough to brutalize children (that sounds horrible sorry), and this REALLY does not pull any punches when it comes to children in peril. By the end of July I’m fully gonna end up spending another $70 to buy the last two volumes of this, unfortch.
July 20, 2021
Excellent art and a cool horror premise. The first 500 pages is really strong but the quality did dip a little after that point for me (hence 4* instead of 5*). I'm looking forward to reading the other two volumes.
September 18, 2023
my new favorite manga??
January 18, 2020
Mann this was such a good volume! I think when kids are used in the horror genre it somehow makes things scarier? Like you see how it is through their eyes. This volume collects the first 3 and man it's a fucking roller coaster , like some stuff I would expect from a horror manga but most of it was like :O I'm sad that the next Perfect Edition of this doesn't come out til next month, but I'll hold out till then! I just need to know what happens!! Highly recommend this story to anyone who is a fan of the horror genre or horror manga or manga in general!
December 18, 2021
Expected something else....Sexist, outdated, childish. Not really the adjectives I want from my books. Visually, the style reminds me of Astro boy which kind of conflicts with the horror/thriller plot the author has in mind. I should note that this Manga was written in the seventies, which perhaps contributes to the things I don't like such as the sexist views, etc.
Read
February 22, 2024not a fan
January 19, 2025
This was unhinged. Some of that made it horrifying in theory, some fun, but the pacing and level of nonsense that occurred within HOURS of an apocalyptic event is absurd. And within days the number of bizarre decisions increases tenfold, but each is resolved very quickly and nothing really culminates or builds on one another save for the cliffhanger at the very end.
One odd but consistently hilarious design element to me is that the mangaka seems to not understand what size children are, and is drawing 12 year olds’ heads even with the crotch or waist of various adults, essentially making preteens the height of toddlers. It made me laugh several times when we suddenly saw an adult and child side-by-side when they hadn’t been in frame with each other for a while.
If you want to be entertained by something bizarre and aren’t looking for depth or character development, give it a shot. I didn’t anticipate first graders building a functioning crucifix, forcing a sixth grader onto it, and burning him alive as a sacrifice to bring rain within 2 days of the apocalyptic event while hundreds of students much larger than the first graders cower in fear, but the implausibility of it made it funny and memorable, I have to say.
I got the whole series from the library, so I’m planning to finish it, but it wouldn’t be a series I’d buy. I can see and appreciate where it may have been a source of inspiration for Junji Ito with the absurd horror, but I’m spoiled with how phenomenal authors like Junji Ito are and this just doesn’t compare.
One odd but consistently hilarious design element to me is that the mangaka seems to not understand what size children are, and is drawing 12 year olds’ heads even with the crotch or waist of various adults, essentially making preteens the height of toddlers. It made me laugh several times when we suddenly saw an adult and child side-by-side when they hadn’t been in frame with each other for a while.
If you want to be entertained by something bizarre and aren’t looking for depth or character development, give it a shot. I didn’t anticipate first graders building a functioning crucifix, forcing a sixth grader onto it, and burning him alive as a sacrifice to bring rain within 2 days of the apocalyptic event while hundreds of students much larger than the first graders cower in fear, but the implausibility of it made it funny and memorable, I have to say.
I got the whole series from the library, so I’m planning to finish it, but it wouldn’t be a series I’d buy. I can see and appreciate where it may have been a source of inspiration for Junji Ito with the absurd horror, but I’m spoiled with how phenomenal authors like Junji Ito are and this just doesn’t compare.
September 29, 2022
The students arrive to their elementary school in a morning as normal as any other day. As the kids are walking to class a giant earthquake of some sort occurs and Yamato Elementary school and all 862 people inside of it disappear into a large crater in the earth. Those left in Japan search the hole and discover that it is completely empty, Yamato Elementary School has disappeared.
We follow the students and teachers wherever they ended up after the earthquake try to survive this new world they have ended up in.
This was everything I was hoping for then some. Junji Ito states Kazuo Umezz as a main source of inspiration and I can see every bit of it. Some of the most disturbing and messed up things happened in this book. There were a few creature features as well. The kids are slowly losing their minds. Just everything about this books is magnificent.
The book was written in the 70's so the art is not what you think of when it comes to modern manga but it grows on you very quickly, it did for me anyway. At first I was like, Sho, why you so mad all the time, Umezz goes heavy on the eyebrows but that's ok.
We follow the students and teachers wherever they ended up after the earthquake try to survive this new world they have ended up in.
This was everything I was hoping for then some. Junji Ito states Kazuo Umezz as a main source of inspiration and I can see every bit of it. Some of the most disturbing and messed up things happened in this book. There were a few creature features as well. The kids are slowly losing their minds. Just everything about this books is magnificent.
The book was written in the 70's so the art is not what you think of when it comes to modern manga but it grows on you very quickly, it did for me anyway. At first I was like, Sho, why you so mad all the time, Umezz goes heavy on the eyebrows but that's ok.
May 29, 2023
With an entire school being transported to the middle of nowhere, a group of students and teachers have to quickly learn how to navigate their new obstacles and work together.
Except shit quickly goes awry and dark really quickly—with the kind of cutesie drawing style, I didn't expect it to get so unhinged that fast. It feels very fast paced, but at the same time it gets a little repetitive.
I do like how they portrayed the adults as anything but the rational figures, and show that the kids' imagination can be an advantage, but also a detriment. It's alright for me so far and nothing that special, but the ending of the Perfect edition vol. 1 makes me want to read the next volume.
Except shit quickly goes awry and dark really quickly—with the kind of cutesie drawing style, I didn't expect it to get so unhinged that fast. It feels very fast paced, but at the same time it gets a little repetitive.
I do like how they portrayed the adults as anything but the rational figures, and show that the kids' imagination can be an advantage, but also a detriment. It's alright for me so far and nothing that special, but the ending of the Perfect edition vol. 1 makes me want to read the next volume.
June 13, 2023
I haven't read it yet (idk how to add a comment without rating the book) but it reminds me a lot of the webtoon "Distant Sky" that I absolutely loved sooo
November 11, 2019
Some time ago I added this to my list because I'd read or watched something and some review noted that if they wanted the same topic handled in a better fashion, I should read this manga. Quickly I added it to my "to read" list, found a library with a copy and put my hold request on it. In the time between when I did all this and the hold finally manifested, I completely forgot the reasons why it was there. Go me. But this personal information which has nothing to do with how excellent this book is, which it is.
A Japanese elementary school has, with a great explosion, completely and utterly vanished. The people and families are of course shocked and devastated. Unbeknownst to them, those within the school have survived -- but soon after what seems an earthquake they find themselves in a barren, almost featureless landscape of sand where the school is the only landmark for seeming miles. The faculty and students have no idea what has happened and quickly realize that they are not only lost in this wasteland, but short on precious resources.
Unlike The Lord of the Flies there's little delay before things fall apart. In fact things begin to disintegrate almost immediately. The lunch man revolts and refuses food to anyone. The faculty is quick to be eliminated. Before long the students are having to fend for themselves in this strange landscape. And unlike American horror where we tend to shy away from allowing the worst happen to children this author pulls no punches. The children can prove cruel to each other as fear overcomes them. There are attempts by Sho and others to rein in the chaos, but such efforts are ephemeral at best. Soon something happens and the fragile order set up splinters.
The story is essentially narrated by Takamatsu Sho. Prior to the incident, Sho and his mother had a bitter argument where both expressed a desire never to see the other ever again. Though they are filled with regret later, their wish is horribly granted by the vanishing of the school. Things generally revolve around Sho, though there are a few scenes were we see the breakdowns of others as he's occupied elsewhere. There's hints in the story that Sho may be central to this situation, though as of yet it's unclear how. As there's two more volumes of collected material it's likely we won't know until much later.
At the start Sho is accused of behaving too juvenile, that he has to grow up. Throughout this crisis we see as he begins to do so, rising up beyond the desires and impulses of youth. Moreover, he proves laudable in demonstrating compassion and support to others in this dire situation. Frequently he is pitted against others whose impulses lean to the selfish and self-aggrandizing. Hopefully we'll see more of this contrast and whether it's important or not.
There are few monsters beyond that which dwell within the human heart, and this makes the story perhaps more horrifying as we watch people and children turn on each other in fear, desperation, and madness.
If you enjoy horror stories, this is a compelling story and I hope to locate the other volumes when I can.
A Japanese elementary school has, with a great explosion, completely and utterly vanished. The people and families are of course shocked and devastated. Unbeknownst to them, those within the school have survived -- but soon after what seems an earthquake they find themselves in a barren, almost featureless landscape of sand where the school is the only landmark for seeming miles. The faculty and students have no idea what has happened and quickly realize that they are not only lost in this wasteland, but short on precious resources.
Unlike The Lord of the Flies there's little delay before things fall apart. In fact things begin to disintegrate almost immediately. The lunch man revolts and refuses food to anyone. The faculty is quick to be eliminated. Before long the students are having to fend for themselves in this strange landscape. And unlike American horror where we tend to shy away from allowing the worst happen to children this author pulls no punches. The children can prove cruel to each other as fear overcomes them. There are attempts by Sho and others to rein in the chaos, but such efforts are ephemeral at best. Soon something happens and the fragile order set up splinters.
The story is essentially narrated by Takamatsu Sho. Prior to the incident, Sho and his mother had a bitter argument where both expressed a desire never to see the other ever again. Though they are filled with regret later, their wish is horribly granted by the vanishing of the school. Things generally revolve around Sho, though there are a few scenes were we see the breakdowns of others as he's occupied elsewhere. There's hints in the story that Sho may be central to this situation, though as of yet it's unclear how. As there's two more volumes of collected material it's likely we won't know until much later.
At the start Sho is accused of behaving too juvenile, that he has to grow up. Throughout this crisis we see as he begins to do so, rising up beyond the desires and impulses of youth. Moreover, he proves laudable in demonstrating compassion and support to others in this dire situation. Frequently he is pitted against others whose impulses lean to the selfish and self-aggrandizing. Hopefully we'll see more of this contrast and whether it's important or not.
There are few monsters beyond that which dwell within the human heart, and this makes the story perhaps more horrifying as we watch people and children turn on each other in fear, desperation, and madness.
If you enjoy horror stories, this is a compelling story and I hope to locate the other volumes when I can.
November 18, 2019
This omnibus contains volumes 1-4.
My first impression was ‘damn, this series is OLD’, based solely on the art style. The reactions and the way the characters move in their environment reminds me of the old Speed Racer cartoon.
But the story is what makes this series shine. A simple plot that evolves into a complex psychological thriller as an entire elementary school gets zapped into an apocalyptic future. The adults are either mad or are murdered, leaving the children to fend for themselves. And there are points when I had the ‘you people are so stupid, stop it’ reaction, but then I remember...
They’re just kids. They don’t know what they’re doing. They’re just trying to survive in what seems to be an impossible situation.
It’s dark, morbid, and fascinating.
This series has 11 volumes.
My first impression was ‘damn, this series is OLD’, based solely on the art style. The reactions and the way the characters move in their environment reminds me of the old Speed Racer cartoon.
But the story is what makes this series shine. A simple plot that evolves into a complex psychological thriller as an entire elementary school gets zapped into an apocalyptic future. The adults are either mad or are murdered, leaving the children to fend for themselves. And there are points when I had the ‘you people are so stupid, stop it’ reaction, but then I remember...
They’re just kids. They don’t know what they’re doing. They’re just trying to survive in what seems to be an impossible situation.
It’s dark, morbid, and fascinating.
This series has 11 volumes.
March 12, 2020
It’s scary, disturbing, and I read it all in one sitting. A sci-fi horror filled with twists and turns, it’s proof of Umezu’s belief that horror is spawned when you’re trapped in a place. It’s graphic and definitely a gekiga (manga with serious themes directed at a mature audience), but Umezu’s background as a shōjo artist really takes the believability of the character’s psychology to another level.
August 26, 2022
Brutal
October 3, 2023
Suggested Reading Time: In the sandbox of the most annoying kid you can find. Much slapping will follow.
October 20, 2022
This is now the oldest manga I have read. Before this it was a shojo manga from the 80s but I can't remember what it's called.
I've heard both good things and bad things about this series so I went in hoping and thinking I would like it but didn't have my hopes set too high (unlike the last book I read, which I had really high anticipation for because of the crazy hype and then I got really disappointed). Judging from some of the reviews on here, it's a mixed feelings book/series and I fall almost in the middle.
It did start a little slow but that's ok because we have to set it up somehow, and the parents and other people in the city's reactions at the beginning seem pretty realistic to what just happened. But the reactions at the school are a bit too ridiculous at times. Like the teacher who took off his glasses and jabbed it into his son's arm in order to get the kids to calm down. I understand that this was the 70s and things were different back then, plus this is a manga and people do random violent things all the time in manga (like kicking someone because they're being annoying but that's usually for laughs) but this is seen as serious, there's nothing slap stick about it when you're reading it. So you're left feeling disappointed and a bit horrified in this father/teacher. There are better less violent ways to calm children. But I guess Umezz wanted to throw some horror in immediately after they got there. Also, throughout the book, some of the characters (especially the adults) go crazy and it is explained that it happened because unlike children adults think logically and if something illogical happens, then they can't comprehend it and lose their mind. Which I disagree with. As an adult myself, I supernatural and fantasy related stuff and am really open minded to things that many people don't accept as real because I believe that if something can't be proven that it doesn't exist, then that means that it might exist. Scientists and historians are only mortal and human, they don't know everything about our mysterious universe and world. Maybe adults in 1970s Japan thought like that so he might not be wrong when he made this manga but now it's definitely not true since people are more free thinking now.
I will talk more about the things I didn't like after talking about the things I did like, while trying to avoid spoilers. I like the idea of a whole building/multiple buildings suddenly just disappearing to another world/time period. I liked the main character, he seemed like a real and good kid. He fights with his parents, but also wants to help his classmates in their current situation and try to survive as best as they can. He's also pretty smart, he figured out where they were while the adults couldn't. The adults were pretty useless: one tries to take over the school and is so greedy and a disgusting person that he wants to keep all of the food they have, he even goes from class to class, stealing the food that the kids have (like candy in their pockets). He's literally stealing candy from little kids and beating them up if they don't listen to him. He's 38 and stealing from and beating up 8 year olds... That's pathetic and horrible. Keep in mind that these kids are from grade 1-6 so it makes sense that they would be crying, panicking and not sure what to do. I would probably be panicking too but after a while you have to realize that that's not going to help the situation you're in and if you're the only adult with a bunch of kids, you need to take care of them, no matter how afraid and unsure of things you are. Anyways, the main character Sho Takamatsu is the best leader they have at the school and when things got bad, he was more responsible and adult than the actual adults were but I think that was the point, I think Umezz wanted it to be kids only. It kind of reminds me of Lord of the Flies even though I haven't read it yet. I liked that the kids really tried to work together and improve their current situation and also take care of the younger ones even when they themselves are little kids. But I think it is true that even if you are 12, you can still survive in bad situations. I liked some of the details of this world but I wish this manga focused more on exploring the world and figuring out why and how they got sent there instead of some of the stuff that ended up happening instead. Like that violent girl who tried to take over the school. I understand that it lead to the kids voting for who they wanted as an official leader but they could have done that without the violent girls even existing (I actually skipped some of those pages because I was so annoyed with them). I was also annoyed of those sexist comments that some of those boys were saying. Yes this was written in the 70s and normally I don't take these kinds of thinks seriously like the racist comments in The Great Gatsby (love that book) because they were written in a different time but for some reason this really annoyed me. Some females do make terrible leaders but so do some males and I think we can all name a few of them. You can't judge a whole group of people just because of some book or study said it. For a smart kid (the kid who said some of these comments), he's really stupid about this, plus he's only 10, what does he know about girls and women? This could have been a timeless classic like Jane Austen's books because there are no cell phones and other more modern technology here but by saying these things, this series has instantly become dated. I always get irritated by people who see sexism in everything like they're looking for it but in this case they actually state that they think girls are not leaders and are weak. Some female leaders have been Queen Victoria throughout most of the 19th century and think of all of the mothers of Kings who ruled behind the scenes. Back than women weren't allowed to rule places like Turkey, so their 5 year old son would be King after the father or older brother(s) died but the one who actually made the decisions were the moms, they were the real rulers and some of them did a good job. You'd be surprised how cunning some can be, you have to be in order to survive in a King's court and in politics in general unfortunately.
After reading this book, it seems like he believes that old thing that many people have believed for hundreds of years, that if a bunch of people are isolated and only have each other to survive, they will star behaving like animals and end up killing each other. It turns out that it's not so simple and not true. There was a social experiment in 1973 where a man named Santiago Genoves picked 10 volunteers to sail with him from the Canary Islands to Mexico with no other human contacts for 101 days. He wanted to prove that prove what I said above and to figure hot how to prevent it from happening. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for everyone else, he was so wrong and nothing crazy interesting happened, they all just became friends but hated him because he kept trying to get them to fight. If these people (although they were all adults so maybe I can't completely compare them) could get along in 100 days together and even become really good friends then how come the people in this book couldn't even last a week in this situation: they immediately started fighting and going crazy, they got extremely hungry after just one day (I know what it's like to be hungry for a day because I fast every year for Ramadan but I don't what it's like for multiple days). It all just seems ridiculous and way to quick. I can accept lots of things in fiction and in this book because I knew there would be some crazy stuff happening since it's about a school that got transported to another dimension. I like crazy and unrealistic things in stories and I like monster movies. What I can't accept are the unrealistic reactions that many of the characters had. So I don't even know if I will ever read Lord of the Flies even though as a teenager I thought it was something interesting to think about, now I know better.
The last page in chapter 15 was so heartbreaking, I was like, "nooo!" and even had some tears in my eyes.
I like to read the first 2 or 3 volumes of a manga before deciding if I should drop the series and before deciding if I should buy the series. This edition has the first 3 volumes and half of vol. 4. I have decided no to buy it even though this edition looks so nice. I feel like this series should have been shorter since a lot of horror series don't go on for longer than a few volumes and while 11 volumes is a short manga series, it feels too long for this series since some of what I read in this volume felt like filler. I heard somewhere that they don't get back home by the end of the series. I don't know if that's true or not (I really hope it's not true), so I don't know if I will continue this series. I might just because I do like some of the characters, I really want to know more about this world and how and why they got there and there are only 2 perfect editions/7.5 single editions left.
I really hope that I enjoy Junji Ito's books more than this. I feel like I might because his stories are a lot shorter.
Overall, this is a interesting story with some adorable and loveable characters and can get pretty dark at times but there isn't any disgusting graphic detail that you see in modern horror movies so I think even some younger readers could read it, maybe not too young but some 13 year olds might be able to read this. I like the art, some of the kids look so cute. I also like that the story is unpredictable at times. This series is more disturbing to me (even though there isn't detailed gore or really creepy looking faces) than some others because it involves little kids. He's not afraid to kill anyone, no matter how young they are
Blog: nazishreads.net/TravelandBookBlog
Twitter: Naz_readsanime
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I've heard both good things and bad things about this series so I went in hoping and thinking I would like it but didn't have my hopes set too high (unlike the last book I read, which I had really high anticipation for because of the crazy hype and then I got really disappointed). Judging from some of the reviews on here, it's a mixed feelings book/series and I fall almost in the middle.
It did start a little slow but that's ok because we have to set it up somehow, and the parents and other people in the city's reactions at the beginning seem pretty realistic to what just happened. But the reactions at the school are a bit too ridiculous at times. Like the teacher who took off his glasses and jabbed it into his son's arm in order to get the kids to calm down. I understand that this was the 70s and things were different back then, plus this is a manga and people do random violent things all the time in manga (like kicking someone because they're being annoying but that's usually for laughs) but this is seen as serious, there's nothing slap stick about it when you're reading it. So you're left feeling disappointed and a bit horrified in this father/teacher. There are better less violent ways to calm children. But I guess Umezz wanted to throw some horror in immediately after they got there. Also, throughout the book, some of the characters (especially the adults) go crazy and it is explained that it happened because unlike children adults think logically and if something illogical happens, then they can't comprehend it and lose their mind. Which I disagree with. As an adult myself, I supernatural and fantasy related stuff and am really open minded to things that many people don't accept as real because I believe that if something can't be proven that it doesn't exist, then that means that it might exist. Scientists and historians are only mortal and human, they don't know everything about our mysterious universe and world. Maybe adults in 1970s Japan thought like that so he might not be wrong when he made this manga but now it's definitely not true since people are more free thinking now.
I will talk more about the things I didn't like after talking about the things I did like, while trying to avoid spoilers. I like the idea of a whole building/multiple buildings suddenly just disappearing to another world/time period. I liked the main character, he seemed like a real and good kid. He fights with his parents, but also wants to help his classmates in their current situation and try to survive as best as they can. He's also pretty smart, he figured out where they were while the adults couldn't. The adults were pretty useless: one tries to take over the school and is so greedy and a disgusting person that he wants to keep all of the food they have, he even goes from class to class, stealing the food that the kids have (like candy in their pockets). He's literally stealing candy from little kids and beating them up if they don't listen to him. He's 38 and stealing from and beating up 8 year olds... That's pathetic and horrible. Keep in mind that these kids are from grade 1-6 so it makes sense that they would be crying, panicking and not sure what to do. I would probably be panicking too but after a while you have to realize that that's not going to help the situation you're in and if you're the only adult with a bunch of kids, you need to take care of them, no matter how afraid and unsure of things you are. Anyways, the main character Sho Takamatsu is the best leader they have at the school and when things got bad, he was more responsible and adult than the actual adults were but I think that was the point, I think Umezz wanted it to be kids only. It kind of reminds me of Lord of the Flies even though I haven't read it yet. I liked that the kids really tried to work together and improve their current situation and also take care of the younger ones even when they themselves are little kids. But I think it is true that even if you are 12, you can still survive in bad situations. I liked some of the details of this world but I wish this manga focused more on exploring the world and figuring out why and how they got sent there instead of some of the stuff that ended up happening instead. Like that violent girl who tried to take over the school. I understand that it lead to the kids voting for who they wanted as an official leader but they could have done that without the violent girls even existing (I actually skipped some of those pages because I was so annoyed with them). I was also annoyed of those sexist comments that some of those boys were saying. Yes this was written in the 70s and normally I don't take these kinds of thinks seriously like the racist comments in The Great Gatsby (love that book) because they were written in a different time but for some reason this really annoyed me. Some females do make terrible leaders but so do some males and I think we can all name a few of them. You can't judge a whole group of people just because of some book or study said it. For a smart kid (the kid who said some of these comments), he's really stupid about this, plus he's only 10, what does he know about girls and women? This could have been a timeless classic like Jane Austen's books because there are no cell phones and other more modern technology here but by saying these things, this series has instantly become dated. I always get irritated by people who see sexism in everything like they're looking for it but in this case they actually state that they think girls are not leaders and are weak. Some female leaders have been Queen Victoria throughout most of the 19th century and think of all of the mothers of Kings who ruled behind the scenes. Back than women weren't allowed to rule places like Turkey, so their 5 year old son would be King after the father or older brother(s) died but the one who actually made the decisions were the moms, they were the real rulers and some of them did a good job. You'd be surprised how cunning some can be, you have to be in order to survive in a King's court and in politics in general unfortunately.
After reading this book, it seems like he believes that old thing that many people have believed for hundreds of years, that if a bunch of people are isolated and only have each other to survive, they will star behaving like animals and end up killing each other. It turns out that it's not so simple and not true. There was a social experiment in 1973 where a man named Santiago Genoves picked 10 volunteers to sail with him from the Canary Islands to Mexico with no other human contacts for 101 days. He wanted to prove that prove what I said above and to figure hot how to prevent it from happening. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for everyone else, he was so wrong and nothing crazy interesting happened, they all just became friends but hated him because he kept trying to get them to fight. If these people (although they were all adults so maybe I can't completely compare them) could get along in 100 days together and even become really good friends then how come the people in this book couldn't even last a week in this situation: they immediately started fighting and going crazy, they got extremely hungry after just one day (I know what it's like to be hungry for a day because I fast every year for Ramadan but I don't what it's like for multiple days). It all just seems ridiculous and way to quick. I can accept lots of things in fiction and in this book because I knew there would be some crazy stuff happening since it's about a school that got transported to another dimension. I like crazy and unrealistic things in stories and I like monster movies. What I can't accept are the unrealistic reactions that many of the characters had. So I don't even know if I will ever read Lord of the Flies even though as a teenager I thought it was something interesting to think about, now I know better.
The last page in chapter 15 was so heartbreaking, I was like, "nooo!" and even had some tears in my eyes.
I like to read the first 2 or 3 volumes of a manga before deciding if I should drop the series and before deciding if I should buy the series. This edition has the first 3 volumes and half of vol. 4. I have decided no to buy it even though this edition looks so nice. I feel like this series should have been shorter since a lot of horror series don't go on for longer than a few volumes and while 11 volumes is a short manga series, it feels too long for this series since some of what I read in this volume felt like filler. I heard somewhere that they don't get back home by the end of the series. I don't know if that's true or not (I really hope it's not true), so I don't know if I will continue this series. I might just because I do like some of the characters, I really want to know more about this world and how and why they got there and there are only 2 perfect editions/7.5 single editions left.
I really hope that I enjoy Junji Ito's books more than this. I feel like I might because his stories are a lot shorter.
Overall, this is a interesting story with some adorable and loveable characters and can get pretty dark at times but there isn't any disgusting graphic detail that you see in modern horror movies so I think even some younger readers could read it, maybe not too young but some 13 year olds might be able to read this. I like the art, some of the kids look so cute. I also like that the story is unpredictable at times. This series is more disturbing to me (even though there isn't detailed gore or really creepy looking faces) than some others because it involves little kids. He's not afraid to kill anyone, no matter how young they are
Blog: nazishreads.net/TravelandBookBlog
Twitter: Naz_readsanime
Instagram: nazishreads, nazcosplay, nradesigns, charmedanimegirl01
October 15, 2023
The Drifting Classroom is like if you took Lord of the Flies but instead of just children being stranded, its children and adults within a school setting stranded in a futuristic wasteland. Everything that is dark and twisted in that story is told through here, if not in more intensity and grimness.
The Drifting Classroom's inciting incident is when Takamatsu's entire school is somehow transported to the far, far future, where Earth is in ruins and what remains outside their school is a desert wasteland. The students, as well as the teachers, have to try to piece together what has happened so they can possibly survive, all the while trying to fight off madness and chaos that will obviously occur with something so horrific.
The horror comes from both sides of the narrative, one from the children, and one from the adults. The children have many Children of the Corn moments, where entire classrooms turn upon their teachers in a brutal way. But what's even more brutal and terrifying is how the teachers turn on the students. Reversing the roles of the teacher's duties to protect the children by having them put them in harm's way is both grim and very brutal. Its very haunting.
The art comes off as a bit stiff at times, while never bad, it does feel like it lacks proper movement. And I feel as if Kazuo gives his children's faces a bit too much maturity. At times, the details in their eyes and eyebrows had such detail that they felt like they belonged on an adult's face rather than a child's. Though I think its style has more to do with the time it was drawn, rather than anything more or so critical. It reminds me very much of Osama Tezuka's artwork, with very cartoonish proportions and style, which stands in stark contrast to the grim reality of the story.
There are some random characters interwoven in the story as well, that seem to be from completely different stories and comics, but it appears that the author/artist of this series has also done some cartoon strips, so I suppose that was the reason they were included?
Overall, a great introduction to a new series that I'm excited to finish.
The Drifting Classroom's inciting incident is when Takamatsu's entire school is somehow transported to the far, far future, where Earth is in ruins and what remains outside their school is a desert wasteland. The students, as well as the teachers, have to try to piece together what has happened so they can possibly survive, all the while trying to fight off madness and chaos that will obviously occur with something so horrific.
The horror comes from both sides of the narrative, one from the children, and one from the adults. The children have many Children of the Corn moments, where entire classrooms turn upon their teachers in a brutal way. But what's even more brutal and terrifying is how the teachers turn on the students. Reversing the roles of the teacher's duties to protect the children by having them put them in harm's way is both grim and very brutal. Its very haunting.
The art comes off as a bit stiff at times, while never bad, it does feel like it lacks proper movement. And I feel as if Kazuo gives his children's faces a bit too much maturity. At times, the details in their eyes and eyebrows had such detail that they felt like they belonged on an adult's face rather than a child's. Though I think its style has more to do with the time it was drawn, rather than anything more or so critical. It reminds me very much of Osama Tezuka's artwork, with very cartoonish proportions and style, which stands in stark contrast to the grim reality of the story.
There are some random characters interwoven in the story as well, that seem to be from completely different stories and comics, but it appears that the author/artist of this series has also done some cartoon strips, so I suppose that was the reason they were included?
Overall, a great introduction to a new series that I'm excited to finish.
January 19, 2024
Ever since devouring the entire Alice in Borderland series in manga format, I've been looking for something to fill the void of that perfect game of death.
I'd heard amazing things about this classic manga and I went in knowing very little: in brief, schoolchildren suddenly are moved to a hostile world where they must fight for survival. I was hoping for more psychological trials, difficult choices, and other "moral tests" common in the death game genre, but this instead felt more aligned with lord of the flies. The plot felt familiar with few surprises, and I had trouble staying engaged while reading. While the art was good and the story coherent, there was nothing about this that compelled me to keep reading the volume, let alone to finish the series.
Recommended if you're interested in reading more classic horror manga and don't mind the inevitable predictability of classics. 2.25 stars on SG rounded down to 2 stars on GR.
I'd heard amazing things about this classic manga and I went in knowing very little: in brief, schoolchildren suddenly are moved to a hostile world where they must fight for survival. I was hoping for more psychological trials, difficult choices, and other "moral tests" common in the death game genre, but this instead felt more aligned with lord of the flies. The plot felt familiar with few surprises, and I had trouble staying engaged while reading. While the art was good and the story coherent, there was nothing about this that compelled me to keep reading the volume, let alone to finish the series.
Recommended if you're interested in reading more classic horror manga and don't mind the inevitable predictability of classics. 2.25 stars on SG rounded down to 2 stars on GR.
February 21, 2024
Quite barmy scenarios utilised to keep the tension going. Most interesting when uncovering the post-apocalyptic world the children find themselves in, and the dynamics that can create fledgling political systems in times of acute social stress. The fact that all the adults go crazy because they cannot handle an out-of-kilter reality in the way children can is a nice conceit. Despite all the children getting mutilated and killed this is a comic that celebrates their ingenuity and resilience.
May 16, 2024
A great psychological thriller following an elementary school which drifted to an unknown place (hence the name). I was quite surprised by how much this story is still working out more than 50 years after it was written. The spreads are beautifully drawn and the emotional impact is very strong in this book, keeping you on the edge of your seat each page you turn. A true mastery of thriller story telling which doesn't rely on usual tropes of gore or body horror.
The story feels like lord of the flies meeting the television series Lost as the kids try to explore around and understand what has happened to them.
Great read and a true classic.
The story feels like lord of the flies meeting the television series Lost as the kids try to explore around and understand what has happened to them.
Great read and a true classic.
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